Brake rod support



y 3, 1955 J. L. ORTNER BRAKE ROD SUPPORT Filed March 24, 1954 FIG.3.

FIG.4.

jnvenfor J. L Or'mer United States Patent BRAKE ROD- SUPPORT Joseph L. Ortner, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to. Ortner Company, Cincinnati, Ohio Application March. 24, 1954, Serial No. 418,390

3 Claims. (Cl. 188-210) This invention relates to a brake rod support which is adapted to be mounted upon a spring board of a truck in position to engage about a brake rod and serve to prevent the brake rod from. dropping upon a railroad track in case it is brokenwith resulting likelihood of av wreck occurring due to presence of the broken brake rod upon the track.

2,707,533 Patented May 3, 1955.

"ice

, Figure l with a brake rod support applied thereto but it will be understood that a brake rod support will be y from the bracket.

mounted, at each side of the spring board.

The brake rod support consists broadly of a bracket or hanger 5 and a stirrup 6 carried by and suspendedv The bracket is preferably formed of I steel plate, although other suitable materials may be used,

This is an improvement over the brake rod support shown in my Patent No. 2,113,900 issued April 12', 1938, and wherein a bracket is shown mounted upon the spring board of a truck and is provided with a rigid stirrup which extends downwardly and is formed with a center opening through which the brake rod passes. Devices of this character have been found unsatisfactory as grade crossing planks becoming loose due to deterioration,

freezing and other causes, are forced upward above their 0 normal position, or other objects which may be. between the rails or trackv are liable to strike the stirrup and bend it upwardly out of. a vertical, position and into binding engagement with the brake rod where it interferes with movements, of the brake rod or it is liable to be broken off from the bracket.

It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a device of this character wherein the stirrup is so suspended from the bracket that if it is struck by material thrown upwardly from a railroad track it may be shifted upwardly and then by gravity return to its normally lowered position where it is disposed out of contact with the brake rod and will not interfere with longitudinal movements of the brake rod.

Another object of the invention is to so form the stirrup that it may be formed from a metal rod, or flexible metal cable, of suitable length which is bent to a U-shape and has upwardly extending legs which pass loosely through openings in a hanger bracket, upper ends of the legs being so formed that they constitute abutments which engage portions of the bracket about the openings and limit downward movement of the stirrup beyond its normal position.

Another object of the invention is to so construct theimproved brake rod support that a device such as shown in my prior patent mentioned above may be readily con verted into a brake rod support of the improved construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved brake rod support which is simple in construction, very strong, and capable of being readily applied to a railroad truck of conventional construction.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. l is a view partially in side elevation and partially in section showing a brake rod support of the improved construction applied to a car truck.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing the improved brake rod support applied to a portion of a spring board of a car truck.

Fig. 3 is a view taken along the line 33 of Figure l; and

and is of sufiicient thickness to be rigid and form retaining. The bracket has a horizontally extending arm 7 from one end of which extends a vertically disposed flange 8. Midway the width of the arm 7 is a longitudinally extending upwardly presented rib 9 which re inforces the arm and has its inner end portion 10 extending upwardly at a rearward incline and. integrally united with the flange 8. The upwardly extending portion 10 of the rib, reinforces the bracket at the junction of the flange 8 with the inner end of the arm 7 and prevents the arm from being bent across its inner end and broken from the flange if struck by objects and other material thrown upwardly from a track. Except for the portion 10 of the rib 9 the flange 8 is flat throughout its area and its upper end portion is bent to form a hook or bill 11 which extends the full width of the flange and is spaced from the flange such a distance that the flange may be applied flat against the flange 3 of the spring board with the bill in close fitting contact with the inner side face of the flange 3. After the bracket has been applied to the flange of the spring board rivets 12 are passed through openings 13 formed in the flange 8 and through companion openings formed through the flange 3 and serve to firmly hold the bracket tightly in place. While it has been stated that rivets are used for securing the bracket to the spring board, it will be understood that bolts or other suitable fasteners may be used.

The stirrup 6 is formed from a stifi metal rod or bar, or flexible metal cable of suitable length and thickness and this bar, or rod, or cable is bent in spaced relation to its opposite ends to form a U-shaped stirrup having a bridge. The legs of the stirrup are of appreciably greater length than the distance between the brake rod and the arm '7 of the bracket 5. Therefore, when the stirrup is disposed in position for use its bridge 14 will be spaced downwardly from the brake rod and normal vibrations, caused when a car is in motion, will not cause the brake rod to strike the stirrup, the legs of which are spaced quite a distance from opposite sides of the brake rod. Upper end portions of the legs 15 of the stirrup pass through openings 16 formed through opposite side portions of the arm 7 in spaced relation to side edges of the arm and opposite side edges of the rib 9, and upper ends of the legs are formed with heads 17 which taper downwardly and serve as abutments for engaging portions of the arm about the openings 16 and limiting downward movement of the legs through the openings. Therefore the stirrup will normally suspend in the lowered position shown in the drawings but since the openings are of such diameter that the legs fit loosely in the openings, as shown in Figure 3, the legs may slide freely through the openings. Therefore, when the stirrup is struck by an object thrown upwardly from a track it may move upwardly from its normally lowered position to a raised position and then slide back to its lowered position. Clearance between the legs and walls of the openings and the fact that the legs and the heads are circular in cross section, also permit the stirrup to have a certain amount of swinging movement if struck by an object and then return to its normal position without the legs being bent or otherwise damaged by the force of the object striking the stirrup.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A safety device for car trucks for limiting down ward movement of a brake rod without interference with normal operative movement of the brake rod, said device comprising a bracket adapted to be fixedly secured to a portion of a car truck and having an arm portion that is disposed horizontally and extends longitudinally of the car truck when the bracket is attached thereto, said bracket being provided with a pair of transversely aligned similar openings therein, a substantially rigid stirrup member supported by said arm vertically disposed beneath the same in position to normally extend about a brake rod in spaced relation therewith, said stirrup having straight upper side portions extending upwardly through the openings in said arm for free vertical sliding movement relative to the arm and providing for upward bodily movement of the stirrup member relative to the arm, said side portions of the stirrup mem ber terminating in free upper ends and having on the free upper ends abutments of a diameter greater than the cross sectional diameter of said upper side portions of the stirrup and the diameter of the openings in the arm, said abutments normally resting upon the portion of the arm adjacent the openings therein at the upper side of the arm and acting to limit downward movement of the stirrup member relative to the arm and maintaining the stirrup operatively connected with the arm while allowing upward movement of the stirrup member when the same is struck by an object projecting upwardly from or thrown upwardly from a road bed.

2. A safety device for car trucks for limiting downward movement of a brake rod without interference with normal operative movement of the brake rod, said device comprising a bracket adapted to be attached to a portion of a car truck and having an arm portion disposed horizontally and extending longitudinally of the car truck when the bracket is attached thereto, said arm being provided with a pair of transversely aligned similar openings therein, a stirrup member supported by said arm vertically disposed beneath the same in position to normally extend about a brake rod in spaced relation therewith, said stirrup having straight upper side portions extending upwardly through the openings in said arm for free vertical sliding movement relative to the arm and providing for upward bodily movement of the stirrup member relative to the arm, said upper side portions of the stirrup member terminating in free upper ends, upset to provide enlarged integral abutment portions of a cross sectional diameter greater than the diameter of the openings in said arm and normally resting upon the arm at the upper side thereof adjacent the openings, said abutments acting to limit downward movement of the stirrup member relative to the arm and maintaining the stirrup member operatively connected with said arm while allowing upward bodily movement of the stirrup member relative to the arm when the stirrup member is struck by an object projecting upwardly from or thrown upwardly from a road bed.

3. A safety device of the construction defined in claim 2 and in which the stirrup member is of substantially U-shaped form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS 680,609 Marquardt Aug. 13, 1901 1,724,265 Ekholm Aug. 13, 1929 2,003,530 Ekholm June 4, 1935 2,113,900 Ortner Apr. 12, 1938 2,165,864 Light July 11, 1939 2,433,773 Macey et al. Dec. 30, 1947 

